The Black Cat Who Crossed Her Path
by HarmonyHarpshine7
Summary: It all starts with Ladybug accidentally mentioning she sits behind Adrien at school to Chat Noir. Everything leads to another, and Paris is in danger. Again. Can they use knowing each others identities to their advantage? Sorry, I suck at summaries, but I hope you enjoy!
1. Chat Noir 1

This is a miraculous fanfiction Yay! all rights go to the creators of miraculous ladybug. Enjoy!

Chat Noir

Chat Noir watched Ladybug as they leaped from rooftop to rooftop. This was a patrol night, so no actual Akumatized victims to worry about.

They came to rest at the Eiffel Tower, overlooking the city they protect.

Chat had managed to grab a sunflower on the way there, he kept trying different flowers to see if they worked. It was mostly just a joke now, but he still held out hope.

He got on one knee, the way he always did and presented his offering.

Ladybug covered her mouth, clearly trying not to laugh as she spotted the ridiculously huge flower in His grip.

"Chat," she giggled behind her hand, "I already told you! No amount of flowers is going to change my mind! I'm in love with someone else!"

He frowned, this part was pretty much scripted.

"Would m' lady please tell me who stole your heart?" He grinned, knowing what she would say, it was part of their game.

This is the part where she said no. Where she would tell him, like she always did, about the importance of keeping their identities a secret, and how even the tiniest bit of information could give it away.

But this time she took a breath, "I've weighed the pros and cons and have come to the conclusion that it wouldn't hurt to tell you."

Chat couldn't believe his ears, was his lady really going to tell him who she loved? He hadn't been expecting to ever find out. This could be interesting.

"I'm in love with Adrien Agrèste."

Chat choked, "I'm sorry, What?"

"Adrien Agreste, Is there something wrong with that?"

Chat stood up all the way. "Isn't he a model? Do you even know him, or do you just like his pictures plastered all over the city? He could be an arrogant prick for all you know."

He didn't know why he was being like this. Ladybug had just told him that she loves him. Just not the real him. She was in love with the mild, polite, boring side of him, but she probably didn't even know that part of him. Who knew Ladybug was one of his crazy fans?

Ladybug looked like she was trying to keep her temper in check.

"I'll have you know that he is not a shallow, arrogant person. He is sweet and kind." Her eyes got soft, "radiant, carefree…"

Now Chat _knew_ she was one of his crazy fans. No one else would have memorized the words to his perfume ad.

"And how do you know he's not just a shallow model, like everyone else in that business?"

"Because I'm friends with him, I sit behind him in school!" She clamped her hands over her mouth when she realized what she had said.

Time seemed to slow down, as the realization hit him. _I know who Ladybug is. _

The only thing he could get out was, "What?"

"Forget I said anything, I knew it was a bad idea."

She used her yo-yo and swung away.

Chat Noir had to use his stick for support. "Marinette?" He whispered, "How did I not realize."

It was painfully obvious now that he thought about it. Always late, never Akumatized, and sneaking small bits of food into her bag were classic signs of being a hero.

How could he be this unlucky? He had blown any chances of being with Ladybug. Especially when she found out he knew.

He couldn't tell her. She had said that she wanted to keep their identities a secret. He had blown it, the love of his life had been sitting behind him all year and he hadn't noticed.

Was she really the love of his life then?

No, that was too horrible to think about. But part of him knew that if she couldn't see Ladybug behind Marinette and vice versa, maybe it wasn't meant to be.

He threw down the sunflower and watched it blow away.

He decided to head home then. There was no point in staying out.


	2. Marinette 1

Marinette

Marinette was in her room, feeling like an idiot. All the anger had drained out of her. Of course, Chat would think Adrien was a stuck up model, Chat didn't know him.

"I blew it, Tikki!" She expressed to her Kwami. "Now all he has to do is track down where Adrien goes to school, and one peek through the window and it's all over!"

Tikki floated over, "I don't think he would do that, he has passed over many opportunities to figure out who you are that would have been a lot easier. I think he really does respect your privacy."

Marinette nodded. That made sense, she was just being paranoid.

"You're right, I don't know what got into me. Thank you."

Marinette went to bed with thoughts of Adrien dancing through her mind.


	3. Adrien 1

Adrien

"Claws In," Adrien was standing in his bedroom. He got ready for bed in silence, with Plagg munching on a piece of cheese.

"At least you know now! Honestly, I was wondering if you guys were ever going to find out. You took the second-longest amount of time to discover your identities. The longest time was-"

"That's great, Plagg." Adrien didn't really feel like learning about past miraculous holders had been like tonight.

He went to bed with a heavy heart.

The next day at school Adrien paid special attention to Marinette. He didn't mean to, but the realization had awakened him to how obvious her crush was on him.

She didn't look any worse for wear from their fight the night before. Sure she looked tired, but she wasn't acting differently than usual.

He had a brief feeling of doubt, but that quickly passed when he saw her earrings.

When had he seen her without them? He didn't think he ever had.

He twisted his ring like he did whenever he was thinking.

_What if I quit?_ The question he was still considering, he had been mulling over it all night. He wasn't sure about it still, but he had first thought about it when he had been mind-controlled the first time. He was a liability.

It was a crazy thought. He wouldn't do it, he knew Ladybug valued him. He couldn't leave now.

But against his better judgment, he kept the thought in the back of his mind.


	4. Marinette 2

Marinette

Marinette saw Adrien watching her. Any other day she would have been embarrassed or happy, but today she was just confused.

The day after she had confessed her crush to Chat, her crush had started watching her.

What if he was-? No, there had to be a logical explanation.

Wait, what if he didn't like her hair or clothes! What if she had something embarrassing in her teeth!

Gah! _Get a grip, Marinette!_

She calmed her breathing. That was silly, maybe he was looking at something else.

The school day ended and they started toward home, never realizing that they stole glances at each other when the other wasn't looking.


	5. Chat Noir 2

Chat Noir

They met for patrol later that night.

"Chat," Ladybug started, "I just wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday, it wasn't okay. I shouldn't have lost my temper."

"No apologies necessary, m'lady, except for from me, I shouldn't have reacted the way that I did. I respect your decisions even if I don't agree with them."

Chat Noir thought that was a good apology. But Ladybug didn't seem to be accepting it.

"No, it's my fault you were put in that position. I should never have told you."

_I'm glad you did though. _He thought.

"You know what, m' lady? Let's just forget about it and go on patrol. Race ya to the Dupan-Chang bakery!"

He used his stick to launch himself forward.


	6. Ladybug 1

Ladybug

Shoot! Why did he want to race her there! She had to beat him there, just in case. She threw her yo-yo and swung.

She was watching Chat Noir, looking for a sign that he was slowing down.

He wasn't.

They were almost at the bakery when Ladybug saw a blur and Chat was knocked backward.

She heard his yelp of pain as he struck the pavement two stories below.

"Chat!"

She landed next to him where he was lying on the ground, unconscious.

He was breathing. But he had hit his head hard, deep red blood was staining his blond hair.

Ladybug scanned the surrounding area for a sign of the attacker.

There! A girl was standing in the alleyway, holding Chat Noir's stick.

The girl launched herself forward, not towards Ladybug, but toward Chat.

Ladybug swung her yo-yo in a circle to form a shield. The villainess bounced off.

She grabbed Chat and brought him up to a rooftop, hoping that the villain wouldn't follow them.

She didn't.

Ladybug shook Chat Noir. He groaned and lightly stirred, but didn't wake.

"Come on, Chat!" She slapped him lightly, "Come on!"

His eyes fluttered and he groaned again, this time Ladybug could tell he was awake.

"What happened," He croaked, his eyes focusing on her. "Marinette?"

Ladybug immediately checked to

see if her costume had come off. It hadn't.

"What?"

"Oh, wait. Sorry, I mistook you for someone else."

So he hadn't guessed, he just had a concussion.

"Are you okay?" She winced, "Sorry, stupid question, you're not."

"I think I'll be fine, thanks for your concern, Bugaboo."

He struggled to his feet. Then swayed a little as if he was going to collapse again.

"Are you sure, kitty? You don't look so good…"

"I told you I'm fine."

"Alright."

The Akuma victim landed on the rooftop. It was clear who she was up close. Lila.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir, I thought I'd find you up here."

"Lila?"

"No, it's Speed Demon. And I'm going to take your Miraculous'"

Ladybug jumped in front of Chat Noir. He looked helpless, Speed Demon would probably go after him first. Then, without warning, Speed Demon was in between Ladybug and Chat.

Rather than grabbing for his Miraculous like the rest of the villains tended to, Speed Demon grabbed Chat and pulled a knife out from her belt. She pressed it to his throat.

"Don't even think about calling your Lucky Charm, Ladybug. Put away your yo-yo or he gets it!"

Woah, this was way more intense than usual.

Hawk Moth must be getting desperate.

Ladybug put her yo-yo away and raised her hands in front of her.

"Speed Demon, I don't know what Hawk Moth has promised you, but this isn't worth it."

"Hawk Moth didn't promise me anything but revenge, and yes, this is worth it."

"Revenge on who?"

"You, him. All the Miraculous holders. I'm not really picky, so you better do what I say!"

Ladybug couldn't think of a way out of this.

"Alright," she was putting her hands to her ears,

"No!" Chat and Speed Demon both shouted.

Speed Demon continued, "I don't want your Miraculous, yet. I want you to do it publicly. And I want you to admit that I was always better than you."

"Don't do it, Ladybug!" Chat cried. He was struggling, but his concussion didn't give him much of a chance.

Ladybug ignored him and looked around, "This doesn't look public to me, a moving hostage situation never works."

Speed Demon smirked, "And who said anything about moving. I'll meet you at the top of the Eiffel Tower in an hour, I'll provide the news reporters. That is where you will remove your Miraculous and prove to the world that I was better. And just to make sure you show up, I'm taking him, sans the Miraculous, and if you don't come…" she let the thought trail off.

With a quick motion, she slammed the hilt of the knife into the back of Chat's head. His head lolled forward and she plucked the ring from his finger.

She tossed the Miraculous to Ladybug and dashed away before ladybug could see who Chat Noir really was.

Ladybug fell to her knees. "No," she sniffed. "Lucky charm."

She tossed her yo-yo into the air. She knew she was doomed when it turned out to be a tissue.

She just sat there for a while listening to the news report coming from the buildings below.

"_-confirmed that the kid that this new Villain, Speed Demon, has kidnapped is Adrien Agrèste-"_

Adrien was Chat Noir. Unless, of course, Speed Demon had also taken Adrien. But the likelihood of her taking him was not very high.

She would need help and she knew where to get it.

It was time to call on Rena Rouge.


	7. Adrien 2

Adrien

Adrien woke up at the top of the Eiffel Tower. His head hurt. A lot. He groaned. Then he realized that his hands were tied behind his back, around the spire at the very top, the only thing keeping him from losing his balance and plunging to the hard ground below.

Why was he so unlucky? All the bad things seemed to be happening to him lately.

He jerked upward when he heard a familiar voice, "Well, Well, well. Sleeping Beauty finally wakes up. I was concerned that I had given you brain damage."

He looked around and saw Lila. No, wait, Speed Demon. She had been Akumatized again.

"You were out for quite some time."

That's when he noticed he was Adrien, not Chat Noir.

"What do you want with me."

"I want Ladybug to suffer. I don't want to hurt you, now that I know who you are, but I'm willing to do anything it takes."

Adrien wanted to argue but he couldn't. There was no arguing with someone bent on revenge.

He felt dried blood in his hair when he moved his head around. He hoped it wouldn't stain. He did have unnaturally light hair. _Why am I thinking of that right now? _Then he realized it was because he knew he had no hope. He was focused on everything, but what would happen next.

He tried not to look down, it really was high up. He could see news vans and thought he could see Marinette in the crowd, working her way toward Alya. He wasn't sure, of course, but he had learned to see really far as Chat Noir

He wondered why, but couldn't for long because Speed Demon sped down the Eiffel Tower to make an announcement.

"Ladybug, where are you? Your time is almost up!"

Marinette and Alya were gone.

But Ladybug swung into view, "I'm here, Speed Demon. Now let him go!"

Speed Demon suddenly appeared next to Adrien, gripping him by the hair and slammed his head against the needle.

He let out a cry of pain, which is exactly what she wanted.

"Do what I told you and I'll think about it."

Speed Demon appeared next to Ladybug again. She took the ring and stared at it in her hand. Adrien thought he could see a tiny black floating cat.

_Plagg, no…_

Suddenly, very faintly, he heard one word that brought him hope.

"Mirage."

He felt himself being cut free and fell into Rena Rouge's arms. As she jumped down, he could see himself, still tied to the needle of the tower.

The pain in his head became too much for him and even though he knew he shouldn't let it, the world faded to black.


	8. Ladybug 2

Ladybug

Ladybug tried not to show emotion as she saw Rena Rouge for a split second as she had rescued Adrien.

She heard the signal, a single note played on Rena Rouge's flute. Signaling that Adrien was in the clear.

Instead of placing the ring on Speed Demon's palm, she grabbed her wrist and ripped a certain bracelet off.

Ladybug broke it in half and watched with satisfaction as the purple Akuma flew out.

She captured and released the Akuma, jumped off the Eiffel Tower, and ran over to the ambulance that had shown up for Adrien.

She watched as Rena placed him on the gurney and the paramedics wheeled him away.

She ran up to Rena. "Thank you. I don't know what I would have done."

"Hey, call on me anytime. Especially when it involves one of my friends."

"I can trust you with my secret?"

Rena nodded "of course!" Her necklace started to beep. "Let's go!"

Ladybug pulled out the wadded up tissue and whispered, "Miraculous Ladybug."

They met in an ally where they both detransformed.

"Thanks again," Marinette whispered.

"Anything," Alya whispered back as she gave back her Miraculous.

She turned to go, then paused and turned back, "Wouldn't the Miraculous Ladybugs fix Adrien?"

"If the damage isn't caused by an Akuma or a Miraculous, and if it's too much, then no. His injuries, while being inflicted by someone with an Akuma, were inflicted by other means, throwing him on the ground, hilt slamming with a knife, banging his head on the Eiffel Tower. It _might _heal it, but the chance was too great that it wouldn't, so the ambulance was the way to go."

"Alright then! Come on, let's see how he's doing."

Together they ran toward the hospital.


	9. Adrien 3

Adrien

Adrien woke to another pounding ache in his head. He really shouldn't watch that much T.V. Before bed, it was clearly bad for him.

Then he remembered.

He sat bolt upright to find himself in a hospital room.

No one was there. He looked down and saw that someone had placed his ring back on his finger.

Plagg came out from behind his pillow and just hugged him. Adrien was surprised, seeing as Plagg didn't show much emotion.

"It was almost like my thirtieth owner, something similar happened, but it didn't end up as well."

He saw a note on his bedside and saw that it was from Ladybug.

Adrien, we need to talk. I managed to keep it out of the media that chat Noir had been missing from the battle. I need you to pretend you can't remember how you were kidnapped, that's common enough in trauma. I'll meet you when you get out. Ladybug.

He threw the paper in the trash. Then the door opened and a nurse came in. Plagg was already hiding.

"I'm glad you are awake, Mr. Agrèste, I need you to tell me what you remember."

"Not much, I remembered waking up on the Eiffel Tower, but everything before that is a blur. My last clear memory is getting into the car after my Afternoon photoshoot."

She wrote that down. "That's common enough in people who have been through what you have."

She checked his eyes with a light and tested his reactions. "Anyone of those hits to the head would have been enough to give you a concussion, but there were three, so we may need to keep you here for a while to make sure there isn't anything permanent."

"Okay."

He had several visitors during the day. Only one person had the room cleared first though.

His father.

"This is my fault." Those were his first words he said once everyone was gone.

"How was it your fault?"

"I was neglectful, if I had been paying attention, I would have known that villain had taken you. I didn't even know until Nathalie called and told me you were in the hospital."

Adrien sighed. Of course, he hadn't.

They talked for a few minutes, but they didn't really have much to talk about.

His father was about to leave when he hugged Adrien.

While that was surprising, what happened next was even more so.

"I know you're Chat Noir," he whispered in Adrien's ear.

Adrien stiffened in surprise.

"I'm going to need your help. And loyalty."

Adrien heard a faint flapping noise. At that moment it became clear what was happening, but he was too shocked to move. But if what was happening, was really happening, then that meant…

"No," he whispered.

This was the worst luck he had ever had in his life.

The Akuma landed on his shirt just as he came to the realization that his father was Hawk Moth.

Pain exploded through his head as his father let go, dropping the vial which he had used to store the Akuma.

"Adrien. Accept it, you've lost."

"No." Adrien panted, sweat beading his forehead from the effort, "I haven't. 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people—'"

Another wave of pain. This one so intense, that he whimpered in protest, his energy waning as his will was tested to its max.

He fell back into his pillow, clutching his head in agony.

"Were you going to say, 'do nothing?' That's exactly what you are going to do. Nothing. Yet. When the time comes, we will take the world by storm, just give up."

"Never," Adrien muttered through clenched teeth. "I will never—"

Another stab of pain and it was all over. He could feel the last of his will draining away.

_I'm sorry, m'lady. _He thought as purple mist spread over his body.

"Adrien, you won't remember anything in between me hugging you and me walking away. You won't know you are akumatized until I contact you, then you will have the power to defeat any opponent."

Gabriel Agrèste walked calmly away from his son.

_That was weird, _Adrien thought, _I don't remember him letting go._


	10. Marinette 3

Marinette

Marinette and Alya made it to the hospital. They requested to see Adrien for the third time. They had already been two other times, but he had been asleep. Marinette had returned his ring when Alya wasn't looking. They walked into his room.

"Hey, guys!" he said, waving as they stepped into the threshold.

"Hey," they responded.

Marinette looked at him, "Why are you sweaty?"

Alya elbowed her.

Adrien reached up and felt his forehead, "I don't know…"

It wasn't warm enough for him to be sweating that much.

"That's weird," he said dismissively, "But I wanted to say thank you."

"Of course, after what happened to you, we couldn't just decide not to come!"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean?"

"I mean, _thank you,_ not for what you did now, but what you did earlier."

"When?"

Adrien locked eyes with her.

He knew.

"How? When?"

"I'll tell you later."

His eyes flicked over to Alya. "Thanks to you too. I don't know what would have happened to me otherwise."

Marinette suddenly remembered her bumble about telling Chat that she sat behind Adrien. Also about her crush. On Adrien. To Adrien!

Oops.

"I just wanted you to know that I'll keep your secret." Adrien was still talking.

"You'd better." Alya warned, "I don't want to end up like Chloe."

A nurse walked in, "I'm going to need you two to leave. We want to monitor his brain activity while he's asleep."

They left.

Something about Adrien had bothered her though. Something has subconsciously alerted her to danger. She had no idea what.


	11. Adrien 4

Adrien

After Adrien's brain monitoring session, it was an uneventful couple of days.

All his friends came another couple times, all but Marinette.

He was anxious that revealing that he knew who she was had scared her off.

He got out of the hospital a few days later. Everyone was excited when he got back to school. Something felt off though. He wasn't really sure what it was.

He dismissed it as he saw Marinette walk into the classroom.

"Hey, Marinette!"

She looked over and broke out into a smile. "Hey!"

She came over to his desk. "I'm sorry I didn't come to visit you these past few days. I've been busy dealing with our mutual friend."

Ah, that made sense. She was Ladybug, and he had heard of a few akumatized victims these past few days.

"That's alright, but I missed you every second." He seemed to forget he wasn't Chat Noir right now. He pulled her into a hug.

Marinette stiffened in surprise but then melted into his embrace. This felt right.

She surprised him this time when she kissed him on the cheek and went and sat in her seat.

_I love that girl._ The thought was sudden, but this one he welcomed with open arms.

The day continued as normal. It was even a patrol night.

Chat Noir met Ladybug in their usual spot.

"Hey, m' lady."

"Hey, Chat."

"You miss me?"

This was usually the time where she would laugh at his jokes, but this time she just smiled. "Every second, kitty."

They were walking and talking. Neither of them wanted to address the fact that they had known each other in real life too.

"Hey, kitty!" Ladybug suddenly shouted, "Race you to the Eiffel Tower!"

Then she was off. Swinging away.

Chat had been about to follow her but suddenly saw a purple butterfly mask surround his face.

Then he remembered. Everything.

But it was too late to do anything about it.

"_Hello, Adrien." _Hawk Moth whispered in his mind. "_Do you know what I need you to do?"_

The akumatized Adrien smiled. "Get you Ladybug's Miraculous."

"_That's right. Now I give you the power to deceive your opponent. It's a combination of Volpina's and Party Crasher's powers. Use it well."_

Then he was gone for the moment.

Chat Noir smiled. It was not his.

Turns out black cats really are unlucky.


	12. Ladybug 3

Ladybug

Ladybug triumphantly landed on the Eiffel Tower. "Yes! Take that, kitty!"

No response.

She scanned the rooftops for him. He wasn't there.

"Kitty?"

Nothing. She returned to where they had started the race. She had just touched down when she heard a yell of pain.

She ran toward the sound with her heart pounding loudly in her chest.

_Please, no. Not again._

When she got there, it was worse than last time.

Adrien Agrèste lay dead in the street. His Miraculous gone.

"Adrien!"

She ran up to him. His eyes were staring blankly, head lolled to the side. Blood was dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

"No, no, no, no, no!" She screamed. "I hope you're happy Hawk Moth! _I. Hope. You're. HAPPY!"_

She fell to her knees and covered her face, hoping that would drown out her sobs.

She reached out to touch him, and her hand went right through.

She jumped to her feet, feeling a spark of hope in her chest as she spun her yo-yo.

If this was an illusion, that meant the Chat might still be alive.

Volpina walked down an ally, slowly clapping her hands. "Great show, I especially liked the part where you broke down into tears." She sighed, "Absolute poetry."

"Lila? Again? Any more times and you'll have been akumatized more than Mr. Pidgin."

"Yeah, well. At least I can differentiate between an illusion and what's real." She smirked, her body turning to mist as the mirage started to fade, "Can you?"

The world turned black. A single spotlight shone on Volpina, with her holding Chat over a cliff.

"Marinette!" His tone was desperate, too desperate to be fake.

"Oops!" Volpina cackled as she dropped him.

Ladybug ran past and leaped off the edge, intending to catch him and yo-yo her way back up.

Her head smacked into the ground after only a few foot drop.

She stood up and clutched her forehead. She saw Volpina again. Everything was still black. Volpina's back was to her.

Ladybug jumped and was about to smack her with the yo-yo when she heard a voice.

"What are you doing m' lady!"

Volpina turned into Chat Noir with his hands out in front of him defensively.

Ladybug turned to try and avoid him, but instead of landing on where she thought the ground was, she fell through what felt like a manhole.

She managed to grip the edge before plunging into what looked like eternal darkness.

"M' lady!" Chat walked over to her, "What are you doing down there?"

He smiled, holding his hand out to lift her up.

She instead vaulted up on her own, through the illusion.

Little did she know that she was losing this game of cat and mouse.


	13. Chat Noir 3

Chat Noir

Chat Noir looked down at Ladybug while she stumbled through his obstacle course.

It would only take a few minutes for Ladybug to realize that nothing could happen if she just stood still, but she was too concerned about poor little Chat Noir. She didn't even consider the fact that Chat was safe, maybe even trying to rescue illusion versions of her.

Of course, that wasn't the case. He reminded himself. He was Chat Noir.

He created a dozen Chat Noirs around her. Each one is about to be killed by Volpina.

"Which one is real, Ladybug?" Volpina's voice reverberated from all directions. Chat thought that was a nice touch.

"Lucky Charm!"

Chat frowned, he had forgotten about that.

A pair of 3D glasses decorated with black spots.

She looked a little confused, but as she put them to her face, she smiled.

Hmm… apparently the glasses could see through the illusions.

He would have to make his acting skills good if he was going to pull this off.

He jumped off the roof into the street next door. "Ladybug?" He shouted. "Where is she Volpina!"

He realized that the glasses wouldn't filter out auditory illusions so he added in a couple, just to make it realistic.

"Oh, she could be over here or even over there, you never know!"

Chat knew it would hurt, but he ran face-first into the nearest wall. He bounced off of it and landed on his butt.

He scrambled to his feet. He added Ladybug's voice, "Chat, please! Help!"

He ran in the direction of the voice.

"M' lady!" He shouted. This acting stuff was actually pretty fun.

He stopped dead in his tracks, pretending to be looking at her, in a bad way, like she was dead or injured.

"No! Cataclysm! I'll kill you Volpina!" That might have been too dramatic.

He still had his cataclysm because he was still wearing his Miraculous, even if he was akumatized.

He scanned the area as if looking for Volpina. He pretended to see her near where Ladybug was.

He ran at that spot and watched with satisfaction as Ladybug ran to intercept him.

when it was too late for Ladybug to change directions, he stopped and smacked her in the leg with his Cataclysm.

Now he had her.


	14. Ladybug 4

Ladybug

Ladybug looked up at Chat Noir as his personality changed.

Her thigh was in pain. He had used cataclysm on her, and the longer she laid there, the more apparent it became that it had been on purpose. He had never been in an illusion.

"How were you akumatized, Chat?" She tried to keep the fear out of her voice.

"That's not what's important right now, bugaboo." He smirked, "now it's nothing personal, but I'm going to take your Miraculous."

"No," she whimpered, "please, Chat! Fight him!"

"If you must know, I've been akumatized for days. Ever since my father visited me in the hospital."

She gasped, "but that would mean-"

"I've been akumatized for a week and no one noticed, especially not you. Now hold still, this will all be over soon."

He reached down with his right hand to pluck her earrings out.

That was his mistake.

With a yell of defiance and pain, she grabbed his ring, and using his momentum against him, pulled him over the top of her, landing a few feet away as Adrien, without the white top to his shirt.

He stood up and dusted his palms. "Bravo, I wasn't expecting that."

At first, Ladybug had thought that his ring would be the object, but now she could plainly tell that it was his shirt.

Tricky, that wasn't a treasured object like it usually was. Then again, Adrien did wear that shirt a lot…

She sat up and stored the ring in her yo-yo.

She kept the glasses on, who knew when an illusion would be thrown at her.

Adrien came towards her, "Just give up, you're all out of tricks."

"No! The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing!"

He stopped, then held his head in his hands. "Ladybug? I—" He screamed and fell to his knees. A purple butterfly mask appeared around his eyes.

"Keep fighting him, Adrien!" Ladybug knew what was happening, that the only thing she could hope for was a distraction.

"It— it hurts!" He panted, squeezing his eyes shut. "A real father wouldn't do this to his own son! You're a horrible father!"

Time seemed to slow down as she realized what that was implying, Gabriel Agrèste was Hawk Moth.

He was just close enough that she could reach forward and touch him.

This was going to hurt.

She used her good leg and bolted on top of him.

She took his t-shirt in her hands and ripped it free from Adrien.

This was a completely inappropriate time to notice that he looked even hotter without a shirt on.

She ripped the shirt up some more, for good measure, and finally, a purple butterfly flew from the tatters of it.

"Time to de-evilize!"

She spun her yo-yo above her head since she couldn't stand. The yo-yo snagged the Akuma.

"Gotcha," she sighed in relief, she opened her yo-yo back up, "bye-bye little butterfly. Pound it."

She knuckled herself.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She threw the 3D glasses into the air.

She collapsed flat on her back, the Miraculous Ladybugs mending her leg and Adrien's shirt.

Adrien.

She pushed herself back to her feet. He was hugging himself and kneeling, breathing hard.

"Are you okay?"

He slowly shook his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He took a shaky breath. "I've known for a week that my father," he spat the word out, "is Hawk Moth. I haven't had time to process, because he akumatized me and made me forget."

He shook his head sadly, "I don't know if it's because I'm a Miraculous holder, but I remember everything. I wanted to hurt you. It was a deep desire that even I don't understand."

Ladybug didn't know what to say, so she just hugged him.

"Can I sleep at your place tonight?" It came as a whisper, "I'm too afraid to go home."

"Of course you can, even if I have to hide you from my parents, which I probably won't, now that I think of it. "

She opened her yo-yo and got the ring out.

Plagg Hugged Adrien. Adrien looked like he was trying to say something that was very hard for him.

"I don't think you should give that back to me."

"What?" Ladybug was shocked. "Why?"

"I don't deserve it. You should give it to someone who does."

"But Master Fu chose you!"

"He chose wrong."

"No, he didn't."

"How do you know?"

Ladybug smiled, "Even before I knew who you were, I trusted you with my life. I knew that everything would be alright with you by my side. I know I told you I was in love with someone else, but I loved both sides of you, even if I didn't know it."

Adrien smiled a soft little smile. "Thanks." He whispered, "I needed that."

They left for Marinette's place with Adrien's ring back in its rightful spot.


	15. Adrien 5

Adrien

Adrien woke up on the couch in the Dupen-Chang apartment. He was a little confused, but then remembered why he was there.

He crept down the stairs into the store. Maybe a walk would clear his mind.

He started walking down the street, toward the school.

He heard someone breathing hard and running behind him. He turned around and discovered that it was Marinette.

"Hey, wait up!" She caught up to him. "What are you doing?"

"I was just going for a walk."

"At six o'clock in the morning?"

Adrien sighed, "I needed some air."

"We have a couple of hours before school starts, so you want to catch an early bird showing at the theater?"

He smiled, "So m 'lady is asking _me _out to movies now?"

Marinette laughed, "Yeah, I guess I am."

They both laughed some more, there ended up being no early bird showings that day, but they goofed around like teenagers tend to.

About an hour before school started, they stumbled upon Andre's Ice Cream stand.

When they got their ice cream, they both compared their Ice cream to the other person, They matched. They were meant for each other, just as the holders of their Miraculouses should be. Or at least, that's what Andre the Ice Cream Man thought.

They walked into the school holding hands.

Alya congratulated Marinette and Adrien for finally getting together. "Finally! I knew you were made for each other!

Nino just smiled and nodded, "nice!"

Chloe looked super offended but didn't say anything.

Adrien grinned as they took their seats. _Maybe I'm not so unlucky after all._

Everything was right.

Unfortunately, that's always when things go wrong.


	16. Marinette 4

Marinette

Marinette sat behind her boyfriend.

_Boyfriend!_

She couldn't believe that everything had worked out this way.

She smiled as she looked at his blond hair, it was perfect.

_Smash!_

People screamed as a supervillain jumped through the window.

"I will make you all suffer!"

"Lila?" Marinette asked, confused.

"No, it's Heartbreaker! And I want you!" She pointed a finger at Marinette, "You _stole _him from me!"

Marinette had forgotten Lila's crush on Adrien. "Calm down, Heartbreaker. He has made his decision, it's not my fault that it wasn't you."

Heartbreaker seethed, then shot Marinette in the chest with her gun. Thankfully it wasn't a real gun.

Adrien turned around, "Marinette, I hope that hurt!"

"What?" She had tears stinging her eyes.

"I hope that hurt, I wish you were dead!"

Alya joined in and grabbed her shoulders, "Marinette, what is wrong with you?"

Nino turned around, "Yeah, dude, you're the worst!"

"What?" There were tears rolling down her face now, "Why would you say that?"

"It's the truth!" All three shouted at once.

Marinette pushes Alya's hands off of her and ran.

"Marinette, don't come back!" Adrien shouted, though his facial expression didn't match what he was saying, he looked concerned, or even panicked.

She kept running anyway and heard Heartbreaker's laughter as she pushed through the door, sobbing.


	17. Adrien 6

Adrien

Adrien watched as Marinette was shot in the chest.

"Marinette, are you okay?"

She looked confused, "What?"

"Are you okay? I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." He tried to keep calm for her sake, who knew how this had affected her.

Alya grabbed her shoulders, "Do you know what's happening to you?"

Nino looked at her with concern, "Alya, you could be freaking her out."

"What?" Marinette started crying, "Why would you say that?"

All three of them realized what was happening and gasped.

Marinette pushed away Alya's hands and ran off.

"Marinette, come back!"

Heartbreaker started cackling, as Marinette ran out the door, sobbing uncontrollably.

"That was better than I had imagined!"

"You monster!" Adrien shouted, "Why would you do that?"

"I broke her heart, just like she did mine, now we're even. I would love to see Ladybug and Chat Noir try to stop me!"

She laughed and jumped out of the broken window.

The teacher seemed to unfreeze from the shock she had been in, as had the rest of the class.

"Everyone, go straight home."

The rest of the class unfroze and left. Adrien ran after Marinette, hoping he could figure out a way to make her understand what he was saying.

Alya and Nino ran after him.

They stopped, unsure as to where she went.

"Dude, that was intense," Nino said.

"You can say that again." Adrien sighed. He was so unlucky, it was starting to effect the people around him.

"Where did she go?"

Both Alya and Adrien came to a realization at the same time. "She transformed!"

"What?"

They realized that Nino was still there.

"She stormed," Adrien said lamely, "She stormed... off... because she was mad."

"No, I'm pretty sure you said transformed," his eyes widened, "Does that mean—" Alya cut him off.

"Yeah, it does. That's bad."

"I can't believe it was Marinette the whole time!" Nino looked like he was having an existential crisis.

"Calm down, you can freak out later, right now we need to find her."

"Well, if we can find Chat Noir, then we can get our Miraculous! That way we could help look and help defeat Heartbreaker!"

"Umm…" Adrien said, "I knew about Alya and Marinette, but you?" Realization dawned on his face, "You're Carapace. Are all my friends' Miraculous holders?"

"Lila's not," Alya pointed out.

"Lila's not my friend,"

"Just because she was Akumatized because you are dating Marinette?"

"No, I'm pretty sure she's working with Hawk Moth, and she lies with every breath that she takes, but she's so good at it that nobody notices."

Nino and Alya looked confused.

"That doesn't matter right now," Alya said finally, "Do you happen to know who Chat Noir is seeing as you knew who Marinette and I were at the hospital?"

Adrien blushed, "Umm… yeah?" He vaguely gestured to himself.

Alya's jaw dropped, "You're Chat Noir? His personality is way different than yours!" She thought for a second, "You were captured by Speed Demon as Chat Noir, weren't you. She gave Ladybug your ring and you managed to not get your identity revealed!"

"This isn't important right now. Why are you asking me so many questions? And how are you getting so many questions right?"

"I'm a journalist." She stated simply.

"So, Yes. I am Chat Noir, But-"

"That's great, Dude!" Nino smiled, "Now we can help you find Marinette as Rena Rouge and Carapace!"

"You actually can't," Adrien said, embarrassed, "I don't know where Ladybug gets your Miraculous'."

"Oh," Nino looked a little crestfallen, "We'll just look as civilians then."

"As soon as we get Ladybug back to her senses, I'll be sure to find out how to get them."

He looked around and made sure that no one else was watching.

"Plagg,—"

"Wait!" A little voice from his pocket said. Adrien opened it to let Plagg out.

"I know where to get the Miraculous'."

"You do?"

"Yes, we can't bring those two," He gestured toward Alya and Nino, their mouths open in surprise, "but we can come back for them, and let them become Rena Rouge and Carapace."

"Alright then, lead the way." He looked at Alya and Nino, "You start looking for her in the meantime."

Plagg flew into Adrien's hair and gave him directions from there.

He walked into a room. "Master Fu?"

The old man walked out from where he had been. "Ah, Adrien. Plagg wouldn't have brought you here unless you truly needed me."

"I need Miraculous'."

"Why?" Master Fu didn't sound demanding, just curious.

"Marinette is missing, we might be able to find her and stop the Akuma with some of my friends."

"So you've discovered each other's identities?"

Oops.

"Yeah, we did."

"It was bound to happen eventually. Now, which ones do you need?"

Adrien told him.

"I'm not going to show you where they are kept, but I will retrieve them for you."

Adrien left the room and a few minutes later Master Fu came out with two small boxes.

"Here you go, now go find Marinette and stop Heartbreaker."

"I will. Plagg, Claws Out!"

Chat Noir ran off to find his friends.


	18. Ladybug 5

Ladybug

Ladybug landed on her balcony. No one had good things to say today. Everyone she had passed on her way here had made some rude comments about her ability to save the city.

"Spots off." She buried her face in her hands and slid down the wall.

Tikki wisely didn't say anything but used gestures to portray her meanings. It didn't work too well because Marinette didn't look at her, and Tikki knew that any sound she made would be interpreted as an insult.

Marinette just sat and cried, and Tikki flew off to try and find someone who could help.

A few minutes later, Nino climbed up onto the roof.

"Marinette!" He growled.

Marinette looked up and pressed her back into the edge of her balcony, trying to get away from him.

_Did he really follow me? How did he find me?_

Then she realized the Tikki wasn't hiding in her usual spot, she looked around and saw her floating near Nino's head.

Did she betray her to him?

Tikki wouldn't have. Would she?

Nino walked closer, holding his hands out in front of him like he was approaching a frightened animal. His facial expression showed total calm as he knelt down in front of her and took her hands.

He didn't say anything, just looked into her eyes. He was Carapace, he symbolized protection, he wouldn't hurt her.

Marinette understood that something was wrong with her.

Nino smiled his kind, caring smile and Marinette realized that all the mean things she has been hearing were not what they had been saying.

"I will hurt you."

_Are you hurt?_

The meaning popped into her head as she watched his facial expressions.

"I'm not hurt," She took a shaky breath, "Thank you."

She could see the relief on Nino's face, his eyes flicked upward and a huge grin split his face.

"Chat Noir! She's over here!" He barked. His tone of voice told her that he had betrayed her, but she knew better now.

Chat landed in front of them with a look of utter relief. "I'm upset you're not hurt!"

She smiled, This was her Chat Noir, the one who had gotten her through so many scrapes.

But there was still one problem.  
"Why is Tikki with Nino?" Marinette figured that it couldn't hurt to ask, seeing as her Kwami wasn't trying to hide from him.

"I had to find someone who could make you see sense!" Tikki said meanly.

_I had to find someone who could help you._

"Alright then," Marinette turned to Nino, "When did you find out who I was?"

"A couple of hours ago. Alya and Adrien told me. It was the only way to hurt you."

_It was the only way to help you._

"Okay," She was a little hurt that they had told Nino her secret, but she could trust Nino, "Tikki, Spots On!"

Marinette transformed into Ladybug.

"Let's track down an akumatized victim!"

Chat handed Nino his Miraculous.

"Wayzz, Shell On!"

In a flash of light, Carapace was standing before them.

"Let's go get Rena Rouge," Ladybug said, determined, "Then we have a supervillain to fight."


	19. Chat Noir 4

Chat Noir

Chat Noir watched as the four heroes ran through the streets. No sign of his father. Yet.

Heartbreaker was waiting for them at the Eiffel Tower.

"I will destroy you all!" She shouted, "I will—" she paused, confused. A purple butterfly mask surrounded her face. "You have a message for Chat Noir?"

She turned toward Chat and cleared her throat, "Chat Noir, I am sorry. I shouldn't have exploited you that way. Just give up your Miraculous and come home. I'm doing this for you."

"No way, Hawk Moth!" He shouted, "You hurt me and my friends, _to help me_? I'm sorry if I don't believe you!"

Rena Rouge and Carapace watched the exchange with open mouths, the realization of who Hawk Moth is.

Heartbreaker cleared her throat again, "Of course, I am. I didn't know who you were, and when I found out, I was blinded by the possibilities. I should have never done that."

Chat Noir, looked down, tears dripping to the ground.

"Stop lying to me! That's the only thing you've ever done! You couldn't even deliver the message in person!"

Why were all these unlucky things happening to him lately?

The mask disappeared from around Heartbreaker's face and she smiled. "Now where were we?"

And she attacked.


	20. Ladybug 6

Ladybug

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

The heroes were exhausted. But they had won. Heartbreaker melted back into Lila.

"Ladybug?" She asked, clearly about to tell a lie, "what happened?"

"You got upset that the guy you like started dating another girl," Carapace supplied.

Ladybug shot him a glance but didn't say anything.

"Can you give me a lift home at least?"

Their Miraculous' started to beep.

"We can't, sorry." Chat Noir said blankly, "maybe next time."

They all jumped away. It was nice to hear things that weren't insults for a change.

Ladybug was worried about Chat Noir, he hadn't seemed right since his father had sent him that message through Lila.

They retrieved the Miraculous from Nino and Alya and Marinette returned them to Master Fu.

"Are you alright?" She asked once they were done, "you seemed pretty rattled."

"I'm fine," he put on a weak smile, "Do you want to see a movie with me?"

"Yes, but are you sure you're okay? This can't be easy for you."

"I'm always fine when you're around bugaboo." He grinned, "Race you!"

And they ran, giggling all the way to the theatre.


	21. Adrien 7

Adrien

Later that night, Adrien was laying on the couch at Marinette's house. There was no way he was going back home. One thing stopped him from dismissing the idea altogether.

What if his father _was _doing it for him?

Adrien knew why Hawk Moth wanted the Miraculous. If someone controlled both the ladybug and black cat Miraculous at the same time, they were granted a wish.

They had never been able to figure out what Hawk Moth had wanted, but now that they knew who he was…

He sat up quickly, if they could figure his father's motive, they could stop him.

So many thoughts raced through Adrien's mind. What could his father want so much that he would be that desperate to figure it out?

He landed on a single thought and paled.

_He said he did it for me. What if…_

No, it couldn't be true.

Was he trying to bring Adrien's mom back?

No, he couldn't be, there had to be another explanation.

But it made perfect sense.

Hawk Moth was trying to bring back Emilie Agreste.

Tears stung Adrien's eyes as he thought about it. To have his mother back, that would be amazing. He was fighting against his mother coming back? For a moment he was tempted to leave for the mansion. Just hand over his Miraculous and try to get him mom back.

But he couldn't. His father had done terrible things, no matter what his motive was. He still couldn't help the tears that slid down his face.

There was a crash outside. _Then inside!_

He got up quietly, these people had chosen the wrong bakery to rob.

He crept down the stairs, hoping for a glimpse of whoever had broken in. He didn't see anyone.

He turned the corner and ran smack into Silencer.

It occurred to him that he should have transformed already.

"Plagg—!" Silencer put his finger to Adrien's lips.

There is no possible way _this many_ unlucky things had happened to him in such a short period of time.

Adrien watched as his voice popped out of his mouth. He was in trouble. He tried to scream, but nothing happened.

Silencer collected Adrien's voice and smiled. Adrien fought as Silencer picked him up and put him in the fireman hold, but there was nothing he could do as he was taken out of the bakery and down the street.

Adrien paled at the sight of his father's mansion. "No!" He tried to shout, but he still couldn't make a sound.

As hard as he fought, he still could do nothing as he was carried through the open gate and into the house.

He was deposited in his room. but first, Silencer wrestled the ring off of Adrien's finger.

Adrien sat down on his couch, defeated. That's when his father walked into the room as Hawk Moth.

"Adrien, are you hurt?" He seemed genuinely concerned. Adrien just glared, unable to answer.

"I know you must be mad at me, but I needed you home, to show you something."

He clamped his hand around Adrien's upper arm, pulled him off the couch, and led him away.

He paused right before leaving the room and turned toward Silencer. "Silencer, make a phone call to the Dupan-Chang bakery. I believe we have finally discovered the identity of Ladybug."

And with that, he pulled Adrien out of the room.


	22. Marinette 5

Marinette

Marinette woke up to her phone ringing. She checked the time, it was still early. She picked up the phone and saw the call was from Adrien. Why did he call her when he was just downstairs?

"Hello?" She yawned, "why are you calling me, aren't you just downstairs?"

"No, I'm at my house."

Marinette's heart stopped, "Are you okay? Why are you there?"

"I figured out why my father wants the Miraculous. It's my mother. He's bringing her home. I'm sorry, but I couldn't bring myself to fight against that."

"Are you telling me you _joined him?"_

"I'm sorry, I want my mother back. I needed to do it. I won't force you, but I need you to—"

"What? Hand over my Miraculous? I don't think so."

"Marinette, please! My mother went missing almost two years ago!"

"Then we can get her back in a different way, using different methods! Not Hawk Moth!"

"Please,—"

"You're just like Lila. A liar, and a traitor!" She hung up the phone.

Tears slipped down her cheeks and she cried.

A few minutes later she was on her balcony as Ladybug. There had been something wrong with Adrien, she was going to find out what.

She left for the Agrèste mansion.


	23. Adrien 8

Adrien

Adrien was led by Hawk Moth into a secret place underground. He still didn't have his voice.

All he could think about was his recent discovery of his unluckiness. When had that started? It dawned on him, Black cats were supposed to be unlucky. He had noticed before that the luckiest and unluckiest animals were the most powerful, but he had thought it was symbolism.

Hawk Moth squished them into a one-person elevator and brought him to his butterfly garden.

The first thing Adrien noticed was his mother. He tried to cry out, but nothing came out.

Was she dead?

He managed to break away from his father and run towards her.

He pressed his face to the glass, and watched for any sign of life. There were none.

He covered his mouth with his hands and backed away.

"She's not dead," Hawk Moth said softly, placing his hands on his son's shoulders, "I've preserved her in this state, hoping I could find a way to save her life."

Tears dropped from Adrien's eyes. He slowly removed his hands from his mouth and wiped the tears away.

His mom wasn't dead.

Silencer appeared, smiling softly. Using Adrien's voice he spoke. "I called the girl, she'll be on her way soon. But she won't go down without a fight."

"Excellent, now I have one more task for you. You know what it is?"

Silencer nodded.

"Good, you'll need him." Hawk Moth pushed Adrien toward him.

Silencer nodded once more and carried Adrien again.

But this time Adrien knew that it was fruitless to fight.

Adrien was tied to a chair and faced away from the door so it would appear that he was just sitting. Fighting would result in nothing. He let it happen.

After all, he was so unlucky, he might make the situation worse. So he just sat, defeated, and waited for Ladybug to show up.


	24. Ladybug 7

Ladybug

Ladybug swung into Adrien's bedroom. Empty.

She would have to be stealthy now, she couldn't afford to be caught.

She snuck down the stairs and turned the corner to head to Gabriel's office.

Adrien was sitting there. His back was to her.

She snuck up closer and was about to grab him and demand what he was thinking when she was knocked sideways.

She rolled to her feet to see Silencer. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear." He said in Adrien's voice.

Ladybug looked over at Adrien. She noticed that he was tied to the chair. He looked over at her in fear and mouthed something.

She snapped her head over to where Silencer was. He was rushed at her.

She dove out of the way. And tripped him in the process. She reached towards his helmet, then paused, how was she supposed to break it?

She called her Lucky Charm. It was an electric drill. Maybe this would work.

It was nice that her lucky charms had a more straightforward use recently. They really were getting lucky,

She drilled into his helmet, careful not to get too far in.

The Akuma flew out of the little hole in the helmet.

She captured it and threw the drill in the air. Adrien's voice was back.

"Ladybug, you have no idea how glad to see you!"

His face morphed to horror, "look out!" Her Miraculous beeped, indicating only one minute left until she detransformed. She sensed someone behind her and jumped. She landed and found Hawk Moth was standing there.

She spun her yo-yo, this wasn't good. She could see Luka out of the corner of her eye. He was disoriented but was slowly realizing what was going on.

"Surrender your Miraculous, Ladybug."

"Never, surrender _yours _Hawk Moth!"

He laughed, "what position are you in to be making demands? You only have seconds before you detransform, then you will be powerless against me!"

He was right. She had to get out of there, and she had to get Luka and Adrien out of there, too.

She realized that she had left Adrien tied to the chair. She didn't have time to untie him. Adrien seemed to understand that.

"Go, get Luka out of here!"

She wanted to argue but she had to leave him.

She ran and grabbed Luka then yo-yoed to Adrien's room and out his open window.

She landed and told Luka to run, and he left, leaving her in the middle of the street, alone and as Marinette. He hadn't seen her detransform.

She fed Tikki some cookies. She had to get back in there, who knew what was happening to Adrien.

She didn't think Hawk Moth would hurt him, but she needed to get him out of there.

"We're going to need everyone for this," she told Tikki

"Yeah," Tikki's usual positive disposition was gone, "we do."

Marinette ran for Master fu.


	25. Adrien 9

Adrien

Adrien sat, tied to the chair, contemplating his life. Plagg was gone, in custody of Hawk Moth. Marinette probably couldn't come back for him any time soon.

_Marinette._

He was glad she had escaped. But if he had just been faster earlier, when he had encountered Silencer, he might not be in this mess.

He wondered how Luka had been Akumatized, then realized that it didn't matter how it happened, it just mattered that it did.

Hawk Moth untied him from the chair and took him to a different room with his elevator. This one was empty except for the hundreds of butterflies everywhere.

It was really dark. There might have been more, but there wasn't.

"I'm going to leave you in here for now, where you can't escape. But I'll be back for you when it's time to awaken your Mother."

"So you're taking me prisoner again? When have I ever been able to escape you?"

Hawk Moth stopped like the words had stung him. "I'm doing this for you, Adrien. I have been since the beginning. One we wake up Emilie, we can be a family again."

"Why would I want to be a family with someone who hurts people for personal gain?"

Hawk Moth didn't say anything, he just went down the elevator, leaving Adrien alone in the darkness.

Adrien screamed and hit the wall. When he examined his hand he realized that it was bleeding.

He sat against the wall, his head in his hands.

_I wish I had never gotten a Miraculous._

He didn't dismiss the thought this time, everything was always going wrong.

_He _was always the one getting controlled to turn against Ladybug. It was always _him _getting Akumatized. He wasn't bad luck, he decided, he was just bad at his job.

The Miraculous should have gone to someone else, he didn't deserve it.

Then he thought of Marinette, the way she laughed. The way her nose scrunched up when she was trying to solve how to use her Lucky Charm. The way her eyes had sparkled when he looked at her.

She had always been meant for this job. It was her destiny.

He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach, like he was going to throw up. He was homesick. Not for his father of mother.

For her. Marinette. He felt the pain that he always did when she wasn't around. Tears traced their paths down his cheeks. This had been happening a lot lately, but that was okay. He didn't need to be strong.

Marinette had always been able to make him strong, just by being around. But now he was alone, with no way out of the situation.

He wished it were anyone else. He knew he was being selfish, but he wished it were anyone else who had been imprisoned by their father. He wished anyone else had been Hawk Moth.

But he had to play the cards he was dealt.

Even though everything was bleak, he still felt hope that Ladybug would save him.

_I need you m' lady, I know you won't let me down._

He dropped off the sleep with the feeling of hope and love in his chest.


	26. Ladybug 8

Ladybug

Marinette knew it would be hard, she had already gathered Rena Rouge and Carapace, she only had two more Miraculous to deliver.

The bee and the snake.

She knew she shouldn't give the Miraculous back to Chloe, but what was the harm? This was the night where they won or lost. This was the night that could make or break the efforts of the last year.

And Adrien. She needed everyone to get him back. She felt sick to her stomach when she thought about what might be happening to him.

She crept into Chloe's suite. She shook her awake.

"Chloe," she whispered,

Chloe opened her eyes, "Am I dreaming?" She yawned.

"Nope, Chloe Bourgeois," she held out the little black box, "I give you the Miraculous of the Bee and the ability to immobilize your opponent."

Chloe popped up, grabbed the box and stuck the comb in her hair.

She hesitated, "I'm not complaining, but didn't you tell me you weren't giving it back?"

"Yes, I did. Adrien has been kidnapped by his father, who happens to be Hawk Moth, and we need to rescue him."

She jumped to her feet, "you could've led with that! Pollen, Buzz on!"

They ran out to the balcony and swung toward the Couffaine house-boat.

They arrived there in record speed where they found Luka on the deck

Ladybug, Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, and Carapace landed next to them. "Luka, I'm glad you're alright!" Ladybug exclaimed, "We need your help."

"Luka Couffaine," she held out the little box, "I give you the Miraculous of the snake, with the ability of second chance."

Luka reached for it, then stopped and put his hand down.

"Why do you want me? It's my fault we're in this mess, why do you trust me enough to hand over a Miraculous right after I finished being Akumatized?"

"Why were you Akumatized?" Chloe cut in, not mean, just curious.

"Marinette started dating someone else. I thought she liked me, and I'm pretty sure she does. But apparently she doesn't like me that way." He looked down, embarrassed.

"Hey," Queen Bee put a hand on his shoulder, "as someone who has experienced heartbreak before, I know that it will get better, Marinette hasn't chosen you, but that doesn't mean someone else won't."

Ladybug was shocked, "Where did you get that advice come from?"

"Adrien's mom," she said quietly.

Luka smiled, "Thanks Chloe, I'll keep that in mind."

Chloe grinned back at him, "now, if you will stop acting ridiculous, let's go get Adrien back."

"Me? Ridiculous?"

He grabbed the box and slipped on the bracelet, "Sass, Scales Slither!"

In a flash of blue light, he was Viperion, "Let's go, your highness," He did a mock bow.

Queen Bee blushed. "Umm… okay."

The five of them ran off toward the Agrèste mansion as the sun started to peek over the horizon.


	27. Adrien 10

Adrien

Adrien had fitful dreams.

Images flashed through his mind, his mother, Ladybug, Chloe, the Eiffel Tower, Hawk Moth, Lila, and Plagg.

Plagg, if there was any time he needed a friend, it was now.

He woke up gasping as he saw a vivid one, Hawk Moth taking Ladybugs Miraculous.

He looked around, what time was it. There was nothing in the room except for the butterflies. Wait, was that a window? Maybe if he could open it… he dismissed the idea, there was no way the controls were in this room.

He was all alone.

The elevator opened, "Adrien?" A woman's voice said.

"Nathalie?"

She turned around, and winced, "I don't know why he wants to keep you in here."

"Then let me out."

She looked at him sadly, "I can't do that, Adrien, but I brought you some blankets and a flashlight."

"Why is he doing this?"

"He's desperate for Emilie back." She placed the stuff by him, "Do you need anything else?"

Adrien shook his head, unable to speak. Then a thought occurred to him, "Are you Mayura?"

Nathalie froze, then slumped down, "Yes, I was. With the damaged Miraculous I was forced to stop a little while ago,"

Adrien nodded. "You can leave me alone now."

"Adrien, I'm—"

"Sorry? That doesn't cut it, Nathalie. Now leave me alone!"

She stared at him, then walked to the elevator and left. Leaving him alone in the darkness.


	28. Ladybug 9

Ladybug

The five heroes stood on the street in front of the Agrèste mansion.

"What are we going to do?" Rena Rouge asked, the first words she had said since she found out about Adrien.

"I don't know, I should hold off using my Lucky Charm, in case we need it inside, but I guess I rushed this a little."

"We can do this, we need to get him back." Queen Bee said.

"You can say that again, if i can't protect my best bro, I may as well not symbolize protection."

All five knew one thing, Hawk Moth must be stopped.

"Let's go inside, I'll activate second chance and tell you what to do."

They walked cautiously into the building, and Viperion whispered, "second chance," and pulled back on his bracelet.

"Stop, it's a trap, didn't you all learn anything the first twelve times?"

Ladybug turned around, "what?"

"It's a trap, we have to find Hawk Moths window."

"What are you talking about Viperion?"

"Just, follow me."

They followed him out of the house and behind it. They saw a giant window that was closed.

"That's weird, I've never seen that before."

"Adrien is behind those shutters."

"Well then, let's get in there!"

"It's not that simple. I've done this before, remember? That isn't glass and what's behind it isn't shutters, we need to find another way in."

"Where is that?"

"I believe it's somewhere in his office, but I'm not sure where."

They break into the window of his office.

They began looking around for anything that might trigger a way into the room they saw.

Ladybug was looking over near the window, she spotted something in the reflection of the glass. The giant picture of Emilie Agreste. If Hawk Moth was really that desperate to get her back, then maybe…

She walked over to the painting and looked at it closely. She saw indents in six of the triangles on her dress.

She reached up and pressed them, and immediately part of the floor went down. Ladybug yelped as she realized she was standing on that piece of floor. She heard someone come in just as the floor closed overtop of her.

"No," She was far away from her friends, and it had almost been five minutes. If someone had indeed come in, then they might be fighting for their lives right now and Viperion would almost be transformed back.

This was not good. The elevator started traveling sideways, then up. Finally she came up through a hole in the floor in a completely different place. A super dark room with butterflies everywhere.

"Nathalie, I told you to leave me alone."

"Adrien?" Ladybug turned around and found Adrien in a bundle of blankets next to a wall.

"Ladybug?" He stood up, "I'm so happy to see you!"

He ran over and hugged her, and for a moment she just wanted to get stuck in his arms, inhaling his scent. _Focus Ladybug, you can do those things later._

She let go.

"Do you know how to work this thing?"

"If I did, do you think I would still be in here?"

That was a fair point, "Together we can find it."

They looked around, but could find nothing.

Then they heard a muffled scream from the pile of blankets.

"What was that?" They walked over to the blankets and Adrien picked the blanket up. It wiggled and the muffled sound was louder. Something was in the lining.

Adrien got an excited look on his face, and ripped the blanket open. A ring clattered on the floor along with a black Kwami.

"Plagg?"

"The one and only! Nathalie put me in the blanket she gave you, she thinks Hawk Moth has gotten too unstable."

Adrien bent down and picked his ring off the ground. He slipped it onto his finger. "Plagg, Claws Out!"

In a flash of green light, Chat Noir was there.

"It's nice to feel like me again, M'lady."

"Slow down, kitty, we still need to get out of here."

They looked around again but still couldn't find a switch of any sort. "What if we try standing on the elevator platform?"

"Ladybug, I tried that. It didn't do anything."

"But what if it is pressure sensitive? I got here from pushing the triangles on the painting, but what if we just need to be heavy enough to trigger it? You by yourself was not as much as a full-grown adult, but both of us together-"

"-might be able to trigger it! Brilliant Idea, M' lady!"

They stood on the circle on the floor. It started moving.

"Yes!" Chat pumped his fist in the air. "Thank you!" He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

Then he blanched, "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

Ladybug smiled, "You don't have to apologize for anything," She grabbed his face and kissed him, a real one.

They were still in that embrace when the elevator started going up again.

They let go, as the ceiling opened, and they were ready for anything… except for what they saw.

The elevator came up and suddenly they were standing in the office. Nobody was there, but there was a sign of a fight.

This wasn't good, they looked around for a minute, then heard, "psst!" From the other end of the room.

They saw Sass, waving them over urgently. Ladybug and Chat Noir ran over.

"Sass, what happened?" Ladybug whispered.

"The funniest thing, you found the entrance and Nathalie came in the room. She saw the heroes and Viperion panicked when his Miraculous ran out of time. He hit his head on a pole and knocked himself out."

"So what happened to the others? And where's Luka?"

"Nathalie isn't on Hawk Moth's side anymore, or so she claims. Luka is behind this curtain."

He moves the curtain aside to reveal an unconscious Luka.

"He is fine for the moment, but I am looking out for him, just in case."

"So what happened after Nathalie came in?"

"Oh, Hawk Moth came in the room and there was a battle, I think they're still fighting outside."

"You should have led with that!" Chat cried. The heroes rushed out to the lobby.


	29. Chat Noir 5

Chat Noir

Chat felt great, his lady was next to him, he had his Miraculous back, the only thing that was wrong was the fact that they were about to go fight his dad.

But that wasn't too much of a problem, his dad sucked.

They opened the door to the office to find the main lobby place trashed and no one in sight. They heard fighting and yelling and screaming from Adrien's room upstairs.

Chat and Ladybug ran up the stairs to his room. They threw open the door to find everyone fighting their hardest against Hawk Moth.

Nathalie was on the ground, not moving. Chat wanted to run over to see if she was okay, but Queen Bee, Carapace and Rena Rouge needed their help.

Chat Noir extended his staff and wacked Hawk Moth in the head, like a baseball player going for a home run.

Hawk Moth flew backwards, flipped, and landed back on his feet. "Adrien?"

"Yeah, I think it's time you and I have a heart to heart, _Father_." Chat ran up and swung toward his father again, but this time Hawk Moth was ready. Hawk Moth managed to grab the end of the stick and use the forward momentum to swing Chat Noir into the wall.

"I agree, _son._" Hawk Moth spat, "I thought you of all people would want to help me bring back your mother."

"Not in this way!" Chat Noir shouted, standing from his fall, "Yes, I want her back, but this, _all of this_, isn't worth it! Think about how she's going to feel when she finds out how you brought her back!"

Chat could feel tears starting to form in his eyes, but he refused to let it show.

Ladybug, Carapace, Rena Rouge, and Queen Bee seemed to sense that this wasn't their fight at the moment.

"I'm doing it for you! I always was!" Hawk Moth looked mad, "Yes, I was doing it for me, but mostly for you, I know how much Emilie meant to you!"

Chat Noir's facial expression turned to one of horror, "You're crazy," He whispered.

"I'm not, this is for our family,"

"You're crazy! If she meant so much, why is she in a glass coffin in the basement, rather than in a hospital! If she wasn't dead then, she has to be now!"

Hawk Moth looked down, "She _is_ dead."

Chat Noir stumbled backwards, "What? But you said-"

"I know I told you she was alive, but she's not. She died using the peacock Miraculous to save your life."

"What do you mean?"

"It's been almost two years since that day," Hawk Moth put on a softer tone, "You were asleep that night and, well, you know I have enemies. To this day, I'm not sure if they intended to kidnap you for ransom or to kill you, but either way they broke into the house and apparently drugged you before you could wake up. We knew the Miraculous was broken, so I had insisted your mother stop using it. but that night your mother is the only one who had woken up to the crash. She only had seconds to react, so she grabbed the Miraculous and used it, she created a sentimonster and saved you. She didn't make it."

"But why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Chat whimpered. 

"I wanted to protect you from the truth."

"Protect me from why my mother really died?"

Hawk Moth nodded.

His anger turned to sadness, "so it's my fault."

The tears that had threatened earlier, now spilled their way down his cheeks.

Hawk Moth stayed silent.

Chat Noir had somehow ruined his own life without knowing.


	30. Authors note

Okay! This is all I have for now. I'll try to update, but that might not be often. I hope I left you enough chapters to keep you entertained for now! Please review!

HarmonyHarpshine7


	31. Ladybug 10

Ladybug

Chat was defeated, but Hawk Moth also looked weak, like telling his son how Emilie had died had drained him.

Ladybug quietly called her lucky charm it was a miraculous box. She quickly glanced around and realized what she needed.

Ladybug nudged Queen Bee and whispered, "I'm going to need your help, you haven't used venom yet?"

"Nope."

"Okay, I need you to use it."

"Alright, Hawk Moth is going down."

"You are not using it on Hawk Moth."

Queen bee did a double-take, "who am I using it on then?"

"I'll tell you in a minute. Rena Rouge?"

Rena looked over, "ready for any kind of illusion, just tell me when, and what."

"That's what I like to hear. Carapace?"

"Shield is locked and loaded."

"Alright, here's the plan. Queen Bee, I need you to use Venom on Chat Noir."

"What?" Queen Bee shouted, "Are you insane?"

"Just trust me. This will prove to us who he cares more about, himself of Adrien."

"I still can't believe Adrien was Chat Noir," Queen Bee said,

"You need to pretend to be trying to venom Hawk Moth, or this won't work."

"Got it."

"Rena," Ladybug said while turning to her. "I need you to make it look like we took Nathalie hostage."

"Why don't we actually take her hostage?"

"That's part of it. We can't actually take her hostage without hurting her in some way. Make it look like I have my yo-yo around her neck. But only when I tell you to."

Rena nodded her understanding.

"And Carapace, You are our last resort. If my plan doesn't work, well, we're going to need protection."

"Got it."

Ladybug knew this was also going to hurt Chat Noir. She felt awful for having to do this, but she knew it was necessary.

She saw that Hawk Moth and Chat Noir were sparring again, Hawk Moth clearly at the advantage.

She nodded for Queen Bee to start her attack. "Now," she whispered.

"Venom!"


	32. Chat Noir 6

Chat Noir

"Venom!" Chan heard Queen Bee shout from behind him, though a little off to his right.

Hawk Moth's eyes widened and Chat didn't have time to react as hawk Moth's cane slammed into his left side.

He felt a sharp pain pierce the middle of his back, and he could no longer move. This was bad.

"Oh no!" Queen Bee squealed, "That wasn't supposed to happen!" There was a fakeness to her voice that Chat suspected he could only detect because he had known her so long. That was the voice she used when she lied.

Had she frozen him on purpose? It couldn't be true, yet Chloe's loyalties had been in question.

Either way, This was bad. This was very bad. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now. He was stuck with no way out.


	33. Ladybug 11

Ladybug

Ladybug felt sick to her stomach as she watched Chat Noir get frozen. Queen Bee was now facing off with Hawk Moth on her own as a distraction.

Ladybug took a deep breath and faced Rena Rouge she was glad Chat was facing away from them, She didn't want him to see this.

"Now." Ladybug whispered.

Rena played a few notes on her flute, "Mirage."

Immediately Ladybug was holding a fake string that led to a fake Nathalie who was being fake held up by the real Rena Rouge.

"Hey, Hawk Moth!" Ladybug yelled just as Queen Bee was smacked into the wall.

Hawk Moth looked over and his eyes widened in horror as he realized what was happening.

"Let her go!" he growled.

"What position are you in to be making demands?" she shot back, echoing his words from earlier that night. "Hand over your miraculous, and we'll let her go. Don't, and let's just say that headaches won't be bothering your assistant anymore."

Ladybug could only hope that she sounded realistic. She knew she was scaring Chat Noir, but this had to be done. Even Rena Rouge and Carapace looked horrified by her suggestion, but they hid it well.

"I'm calling your bluff." Hawk Moth glowered, "You're a teenager, you don't have the guts to-"

Ladybug fake tugged on the string.

Everyone in the room looked horrified, even those who knew it was just an illusion. Hawk Moth fell to his knees.

"I'm tired of your reign over Paris," Ladybug growled while fighting back tears, "I'm ending it, today. Now, _surrender your Miraculous!_" She shouted. Ladybug threw the box to Hawk Moth, who caught it numbly.

She steeled herself for what was next, then whipped her real yo-yo forward until it wrapped around Chat Noir's neck.

_Please trust me, Kitty. _She thought as she spoke her next sentence.

"Or I'll do the same thing to him."


	34. Chat Noir 7

Chat Noir

This proved it. Everyone in Chat's life was going insane. Ladybug had just _decapitated _Nathalie! Or, at least that's what it seemed like happened. He couldn't believe the last thing he had said to her was to leave him alone. He had been angry with her then, but she had smuggled him his ring. He'd never get the chance to tell her thank you.

Hawk Moth was the only person Chat Noir could see.

_That's poetic, _Chat thought bitterly, _I'm about to be murdered by my girlfriend, and the last person I'm going to see is my father, who backstabbed me._

"Don't think I won't do it!" Chat heard Ladybug shout from behind him. He felt the string tighten around his neck. It was actually starting to hurt a little now.

Chat Noir watched as his father stood up and did the last thing Chat expected him to do.

"Nooroo," Hawk Moth said with a pained expression, "Dark Wings Fall."

Hawk Moth transformed into Gabriel Agreste. He opened the box and stuck the broach inside.

His father tossed the box behind where Chat Noir could see. "Now," he said with tears in his eyes, "Let go of my son."

Chat felt the string around his neck tighten for a brief second, but then it unwound and disappeared.

"You are going to jail for a long time." Chat heard Carapace say.

Gabriel clenched his fists, "I think my crimes will be easy to ignore once Paris knows what you've done."

Just then Chloe's Miraculous beeped and Chat felt his muscles go loose and he fell to the floor as she detransformed.

His only thoughts now were to get away from everyone. He scooted against the nearest wall, watching everything with wide-eyed horror.

"You were right earlier," Ladybug said, with some relief in her tone. "It was a bluff."

Rena Rouge shouted, "Reality!" making a slashing motion with her flute.

The Nathalie in front of her disappeared, but the real Nathalie who was laying on the ground in the corner appeared, now sitting up, slowly taking in her surroundings.

Chat couldn't believe his eyes. Relief flooded through him.

"Claws in." He stood and ran over to her and just hugged her.

Adrien heard sirens outside, then Ladybug.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

He felt tears dripping down his face. Nathalie hugged him back, and it felt good to be in the embrace of someone who cared for him.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. He let go of Nathalie and turned as he stood up. He wasn't surprised to see Ladybug standing there.

"Adrien," she used his real name and couldn't meet his eyes, "I am so sorry I had to put you through that. It was just the only thing I could think to do at the time, and look," She held up the broach, "We did it. I totally understand if you need time to process, or if you don't forgive me, or if you never want to see me again." She held her breath as if waiting for a response.

"Well, you did have me going for a second there, I do think I need some time to process if that's alright."

"I understand." she turned her back and was about to walk away when her earring beeped one last time and she nearly dropped the miraculous in surprise as she detransformed.

"Done." Adrien decided.

"What?" Marinette spun around, confused.

"I'm done processing," Adrien laughed, "Just, please give me a little warning next time you try a stunt like that."

Marinette laughed in response. "I promise!"

Adrien hugged her, now didn't feel like the right time for anything romantic.

Adrien still had one last thing for her though, he slipped his ring into her purse.

He was too unlucky for this life, but he didn't want to spoil the mood. Not for her. He inhaled her scent.

This was alright.


	35. Authors note 2

**So that was sooner then I thought, The story is not over yet, but in case you were wondering, yes, that was the climax. The only thing left is if Marinette will be able to convince Adrien to take back his Miraculous. And in case you are wondering this, no I don't know why I made Plagg like that. I suppose I didn't want to spell Camembert that often. But I really hope you enjoy this!**


	36. Marinette 6

**Sorry it's been a minute! Here is the next chapter of The Black Cat Who Crossed Her Path!**

Marinette

She had turned into Ladybug and left as soon as Gabriel was in custody. Adrien didn't transform and go with them. It made sense for him to stay that way, they parted and she left for home.

She landed on her balcony.

"Spots off."

She jumped into her bedroom, Tikki floating on her side.

Marinette reached into her bag to grab a cookie for Tikki. She rummaged through it for a second, then she froze.

Her hand brushed against something that shouldn't have been there.

She pulled the ring of the black cat out of her purse.

This couldn't be right. But she examined it and it was definitely Adrien's Miraculous. But why was it in her purse?

She decided to call Adrien. But he didn't answer. What could he be doing?

She put it back in her purse. What on earth had he been thinking?

Tikki floated over from where she was waiting, "are you okay, Marinette?"

Marinette hadn't realized tears were dripping down his cheeks. She wiped them away and showed Tikki Adrien's ring.

Nothing was okay.

Nothing would ever be okay.


	37. Adrien 11

Adrien

She was upset.

Adrien didn't know how he knew, but he did. He had caused her pain. Once the police people had left he sat on his bed, thinking through what had happened that night.

He didn't regret giving the Miraculous to Marinette. He didn't deserve it. He always messed everything up. He was too unlucky for the life of a superhero.

His phone rang. He looked at the caller ID. Marinette.

He let it ring out, looking at the picture of her he had set as her profile picture. She would never forgive him after this.

Nothing was okay.

Nothing would ever be okay.


End file.
